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Decisions, Wildfires, Health Care Act (June 2012 Buzz)

Decisions, decisions. About halfway through the year's a good time to make them, and many were laid out judicially (although to some thinking, not judiciously), politically, competitively, and romantically. Some decisions though are beyond that of man and instead are up entirely to Mother Nature: Disastrous floods, roiling heat, vicious winds, and heart-stopping wildfires afflicted many parts of the United States. Below, the judgment calls and seeming Judgment Days that preoccupied the online world in June.

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Tom Cruise Katie Holmes (AFP Photo/Stephen Lovekin)

A month of decisionsPolitics: Democracy in action is always a good thing, in principle, but pessimism shadowed the elections of Egypt (what, these choices?) and Greece (don't drag us down). In the United States, a far smaller but notable recall election left Wisconsin governor Scott Wilson still holding onto his seat. Other election wins included Ron Barber for Gabrielle Giffords' Arizona seat, Orrin Hatch keeping his Utah one.Another political move: Eric Holder became the first U.S. attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress, over Operation Fast and Furious. Crime: A jury found Jerry Sandusky guilty of 45 counts of sex abuse; the Penn State assistant coach may appeal but more revelations have emerged about cover-ups. In a very different high-profile case, a Florida coroner figured only marijuana—not bath salts—was in Rudy Eugene's system when he chewed on the face of Ronald Poppo (who is doing well and receiving donations to help his recovery). Courts: The Supreme Court cleared out its outbox with decisions about foul words on television (let them fly), life sentences for minors (can't be mandatory), Arizona's immigration policy (upholding federal supremacy on illegal immigration but keeping "show your papers" provision), a Montana ban on corporate political money (struck down, thereby upholding the controversial Citizens United ruling for states), and upholding the Health Care Reform Act of 2010. Sports: The Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma Thunder in the NBA playoffs. Roger Clemens ended his long perjury case with a not guilty verdict. Olympic trials narrowed down contenders, but one highlight revolved around an indecisive moment: photo-finish dead heat in track and field. News: Ann Curry became the fall guy in the morning show wars, as she was forced to exit NBC's "Today Show." The public mess had TV observers scratching heads and some partly blaming co-host Matt Lauer (who has had other partner issues). Ratings will tell. Celebrity: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes lasted five years, but the wife filed for divorce allegedly over concerns of committing Suri to Scientology.

Scorchers: wildfires, heat waves and floods
Forecasters had warned in 2011 — a year beset by meteorological extremes — that 2012 would have its own extremes as well. Tropical Debby soaked Florida, although not nearly to the degree that Minnesota has been flooded (pushing its governor to ask for $108 million in federal aid). A heat wave steamed the East Coast and South, and windstorms didn't bring relief but instead tore through power lines and hit Virginia especially hard. Both wind and heat made for tinder conditions for wildfires in Utah, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona; Multiple blazes in Colorado scorched acres, with Waldo Canyon's conflagration its worst wildfire in recorded history, taking firefighting resources from other states (such as Utah and Arizona), and driving more than 30,000 from their homes and into uncertainty; by June's end, the Waldo Canyon fire was only 25 percent contained, the best numbers yets. Another notable bit of good news: Social media and improved mapping have helped in efforts to inform residents and track the fiery spread

Affordable Health Care Act: Act II
The Supreme Court toyed with the public in June, as it released one (admittedly fascinating) decision after another, but saved the Affordable Care Act for the last Thursday in June. After some initial media confusion, the gist was this: The court upheld the act, nicknamed Obamacare, and invoked the T-word (tax). Nevertheless, the ruling meant victory for the White House, and refired the opposition from Mitt Romney to Tea Party members. Online, people tried to figure out the act's relevance ("how much will obamacare cost me" was a typical Yahoo! search), while a tiny minority directed fury at a turncoat Chief Justice John Roberts ("john roberts is a traitor") and even revived conspiracy theories ("obama suspending elections 2012") and questions about Canada's health care system, reportedly because of a mistaken notion that going north would mean escaping the individual mandate. Canada of course has a publicly funded system and, as one Tweet put it, "Saying you're moving to Canada cause you're upset about Obamacare is like saying you're moving to Hogwarts because you're upset about magic."

June 2012 Buzz

Fastest moving search terms on Yahoo!

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Wimbledon 2012 (+78,804%). Roger Federer chasing the lead, upsets leave the women's title up for grabs.

Prop 8 (+25,567%). On June 5, Ninth Circuit let stand an appeal sruling to declare the California ballot initiative to eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry unconstitutional. Two weeks later, one of the only two witnesses to testify on behalf of Prop 8 declared his support for gay marriage.

Paula Broadwell is finally breaking her silence over her affair with former CIA director and retired Gen. David Petraeus because she says she wants to reclaim her “own narrative” and career. Broadwell, a former military intelligence officer and biographer, admitted to having an extramarital affair with Petraeus, whom she met while researching a book on his life. Petraeus, who is reportedly being considered by President-elect Donald Trump for secretary of state, later admitted he shared classified information with Broadwell.

Christmas decoration is displayed at the Christmas market near the ‘Marienplatz’ square in Munich, Germany; a fan dressed as a stormtrooper waves a mini light saber during the Japan premiere of ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ in Tokyo, Japan; and a view of light shining through a gate during a media preview event for the new summer exhibition ‘Versailles: Treasures from the Palace’ at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia are some of the photos of the day. (AP/EPA/Getty/Reuters) See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.

A federal judge in Michigan on Wednesday revoked his order requiring a recount of the state's presidential vote sought by Jill Stein, siding with a state appeals court that found the Green Party candidate had no grounds to mount the challenge. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith's ruling has the effect of halting the recount in Michigan, at least for now, following conflicting rulings a day earlier by federal and state appeals courts. The Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered the recount stopped, while the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Goldsmith's earlier decision and said the process should proceed.

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager says the president-elect has already accomplished more in the month since his election than President Obama has in the last four years. “Donald Trump, in the first four weeks of his presidency, has done more to help this country than I think Barack Obama has done in the last four years,” Corey Lewandowski said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday. Lewandowski, an informal Trump adviser expected to join his administration, said Trump has a shown a stronger “commitment” to the U.S. military and American businesses than the Obama administration’s second term by vowing “to reduce the amount of government regulations so they can continue to grow” at a rate higher than the current economy.

After inadvertently sending out a promotional email on Wednesday regarding the NES Classic Edition, Best Buy sent out a clarification email later in the day to confirm that it would in fact have the hard-to-find console in stock at retail stores beginning on December 20th.
Last night, Oscar Muñoz ( @oscarinmv on Twitter ) received an email from Best Buy informing him that the NES Classic Edition would be "available in all Best Buy stores tomorrow, December 20." At the time, "tomorrow" was actually December 8th, which explains why Best Buy had to send another email minutes later explaining that NES Classic Edition consoles would actually be in stores on the 20th (via: @matthewrex ).
https://twitter.com/matthewrex/status/806661882941583360
Unsurprisingly, there will be limited quantities available, so if you want to grab an NES Classic Edition from Best Buy later this month, you'll probably need to be at your local store the minute it opens.
Nothing in the email suggests that any stock will be available on BestBuy.com , but it still might be worth keeping an eye out on the website come December 20th. We'll be sure to update this post if we hear anything definitive about the NES Classic Edition coming to Best Buy's website.
If you don't want to wait that long, Amazon said on Twitter earlier this week that it would have "exciting announcements to make in the coming week" for NES Classic Edition fans. We won't know for sure until the retailer shares more details, but we have to assume that means Amazon will have more units soon as well.

In an effort to combat illegal mining and logging, agents of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, supported by military police, conduct operations in the municipality of Novo Progresso, Para State, northern Brazil. (Getty Images) Photographs by Ueslei Marcelino/Getty Images See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr .

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man convicted of killing a store clerk is scheduled to be executed Thursday, but lawyers for the former Eagle Scout are urging it be blocked because a judge overrode a jury recommendation in imposing the death sentence.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' highest court on Thursday threw out a judge's ruling that could have allowed all married same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses on their children's birth certificates without a court order, saying it doesn't violate equal protection "to acknowledge basic biological truths."